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• Determine suitability and effectiveness of an organization’s environmental
management system to attain environmental goals.
• Provide the audited organization with an opportunity to enhance its envi-
ronmental management systems and, as a result, contribute to continuous
improvement of its environmental performance.
• Check conformity to existing regulations.
• Internally assess the organization’s environmental management system
within the framework of a given environmental management standard.
• Assess an organization prior to establishing a contractual party relation-
ship with that entity.

1.5.3.4 Eco-Label

The idea of eco-labeling is to guarantee the environmental quality of certain prop-
erties or characteristics of the products that obtain the eco-label (Alfonso and
Krämer, 1996) in order to provide consumers with better information on green
products and promote the design for environment (EC, 1997). An EU eco-label
scheme is laid down in Council Regulation 880/92 (EEC) 1980/2000.
Products and services that meet previously established environmental criteria
are allowed to use various official labels for easier recognition. On the one hand,
the eco-labeling scheme provides consumers and end-users with enhanced and
more reliable information; on the other hand, it fosters design, manufacturing,
marketing, use and consumption of products and services exceeding existing
mandatory environmental quality requirements. A product with a lower environ-
mental impact is that with a composition and/or manufacturing, operation, elim-
ination that cause lower damage or impact to the environment. Some examples
are paper manufactured without emission of organic chloride compounds, a
washing machine with low water and energy consumption, a refrigerator manu-
factured with recyclable component parts, etc. A service with a lower environ-
mental impact would be a small business (store, repair shop, etc.) whose opera-
tion, management or service supply (from the use of environmental quality
products to adequate waste management) is respectful of the environment. Exam-
ples of other eco-labels are the Blue Angel in Germany and the White Swan in
the Nordic countries.
The status of eco-labeling and product information on the international scene is
far from coherent, however, particularly among the various stakeholders. At the
global level, including food and nonfood products, we can count on 700 labels and
2000 green claims; only 17 of these green claims are part of a systematic eco-labeling
scheme. These cover product categories ranging from laundry detergents, household
cleaners, paints and varnishes, household paper, sanitary items, wood, textiles, white
domestic appliances, and garden products, as well as tourism, energy production or
efficiency and services. ISO classified labels or indicators for environmental claims
use into three categories:

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